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Wondering if there was any control over the form of the written notes in the study? Laptop: probably typed text input given the comments about verbatim recordi

Wondering if there was any control over the form of the written notes in the study? Laptop: probably typed text input given the comments about verbatim recording of speech. Paper: Quite possibly mind maps or hierarchically arranged notes that mirror the structure of the talk. Diagrams and rapid tabulations (even just 'pros' and 'cons' of a position the speaker is outlining). Seems much richer. As others have suggested a third group using tablet/stylus in a visual note-taking program might be interesting to include.

Amezarak 12y ago
Do people actually take "structured" notes like that? My experience was that my recall with the handwritten notes was better, but my handwritten notes weren't much different from my typed notes. In fact, my typed notes usually contained more information (as the article notes) since I am a much faster typist than writer. In both cases, I basically wrote down what the professor said. It might have been abbreviated, and I wouldn't bother with things I didn't think mattered, but they were very much essentially an unstructured and disjointed narrative of the class. I didn't feel like I had the time to structure them (into say, pro/con lists) because that kind of information often was something I could only extract after the fact. For example, a professor might start speaking about a particular subject, mention a benefit to that approach (pro, right?!) but then go on another five minutes about what that entailed, leaving that part of my notes long behind and so keeping me from really structuring it as a pro/con list. If I thought a professor was saying something especially important I might sit there, absorb it, and frantically write down a condensed version as he started into something else, but that was as close as I got to any kind of structure. On the very rare occasions I reread and reorganized my notes, I did do something of the sort. But I rarely bothered because a) my notes were hardly readable in the first place and b) it didn't seem worth it since I already understood the material by that time. Oddly, I think my bad handwriting might have contributed to the quality of my notes: when I did go back and read them, I had to read them very slowly, again and again, to understand them and I often had to fill in several words from context since they were mostly illegible.
- deleted 12y ago
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- keithpeter 12y ago
  "Do people actually take "structured" notes like that?" About one third of my students depart from linear in some way (use of objectives as headings and add notes under, use of key words as centres around which to organise sentences). Agreed a small number use full on mind mapping in the lessons itself. I teach at below university level. Your point about having to read slowly and work to understand your notes ties in with some research, but I'm not about to try that on my handouts! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11573666 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11573666

Amezarak 12y ago

Do people actually take "structured" notes like that? My experience was that my recall with the handwritten notes was better, but my handwritten notes weren't much different from my typed notes. In fact, my typed notes usually contained more information (as the article notes) since I am a much faster typist than writer. In both cases, I basically wrote down what the professor said. It might have been abbreviated, and I wouldn't bother with things I didn't think mattered, but they were very much essentially an unstructured and disjointed narrative of the class. I didn't feel like I had the time to structure them (into say, pro/con lists) because that kind of information often was something I could only extract after the fact. For example, a professor might start speaking about a particular subject, mention a benefit to that approach (pro, right?!) but then go on another five minutes about what that entailed, leaving that part of my notes long behind and so keeping me from really structuring it as a pro/con list. If I thought a professor was saying something especially important I might sit there, absorb it, and frantically write down a condensed version as he started into something else, but that was as close as I got to any kind of structure. On the very rare occasions I reread and reorganized my notes, I did do something of the sort. But I rarely bothered because a) my notes were hardly readable in the first place and b) it didn't seem worth it since I already understood the material by that time. Oddly, I think my bad handwriting might have contributed to the quality of my notes: when I did go back and read them, I had to read them very slowly, again and again, to understand them and I often had to fill in several words from context since they were mostly illegible.

deleted 12y ago
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keithpeter 12y ago
"Do people actually take "structured" notes like that?" About one third of my students depart from linear in some way (use of objectives as headings and add notes under, use of key words as centres around which to organise sentences). Agreed a small number use full on mind mapping in the lessons itself. I teach at below university level. Your point about having to read slowly and work to understand your notes ties in with some research, but I'm not about to try that on my handouts! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11573666 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11573666